Top six books for you

Milhouse · Nov 23, 2009

The 100 books list spurred a quote that caught my attention.

So, here is something to ponder:

What six books are the most powerful, meaningful books you have experienced? These need to be books that you would read over and over, study thoroughly and enjoy.

For me, that is such a tough question. I'll have to think for a while about it. I'm not sure that I've found my six even.

JonHecht · Nov 23, 2009

Don Quixote
Complete Works of Plato, ed. John Cooper (kinda cheating, but whatever)
A Theory of Justice by John Rawls
Law's Empire by Ronald Dworkin
The Concept of Law by HLA Hart
Moral Limits on Criminal Law series by Joel Feinberg

Honorable mention goes to The Idea of Justice by Amartya Sen, which came out this summer nad I am doing a detailed book study of.

ConcernedParent · Nov 23, 2009

The Great Gatsby, Dorian Gray, Farewell to Arms, Brave New World, East of Eden, 1984.

All, ironically, were required high school readings that I still reread from time to time even now.

coldarchon · Nov 23, 2009

actually I think all books of my life have had an impact on me, so children's books should count as well, they gave me a fundament for what I am today ..

the very hungry caterpillar
winnie-the-pooh
alice in wonderland
capital
moby dick
divine comedy

CDFS · Nov 23, 2009

Someone should start a thread titled 'Top four books for you'. It should be even more powerful and refined. Hard to improve on that...

MrG · Nov 23, 2009

Originally Posted by coldarchon

actually I think all books of my life have had an impact on me, so children's books should count as well, they gave me a fundament for what I am today ..

the very hungry caterpillar
winnie-the-pooh
alice in wonderland
capital
moby dick
divine comedy

DO NOT blame Winnie for what you've become. Many, many children the world over have read his books without becoming a complete train wreck, and I object to your use of him as a scapegoat for your weirdness.

MrG · Nov 23, 2009

To answer the OP seriously, I'm sure the six would change if I thought more about it, but these will probably always be near the top six:

The Catcher in the Rye
On Liberty
Plato's Complete Works
Brave New World
A Grief Observed
Where is Joe Merchant? (It's definitely a guilty pleasure, but it's a great escape.)

JohnGalt · Nov 23, 2009

Atlas Shrugged
The Fountainhead
A Brief History of Time
Brave New World
Into Thin Air
Hamlet

AntiHero84 · Nov 23, 2009

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Please Kill Me edited by Legs McNeil
Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Notable Mentions: The Sun Alo Rises, The Pearl, Of Mice and Men, The Sound and the Fury, Rabbit Run, Rabbit Redux, Hell's Angels, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Brave New World....

Piobaire · Nov 23, 2009

In no particular order:

Dune
Coppleston's History of Phil set
Riverside Shakespeare
Something by Bertrand Russell (can't decide which this early in the morning)
L'Ã‰tranger
Charcuterie

Strombollii · Nov 23, 2009

This is a damn good question:
On the Road -- Kerouac
Paradise Lost -- Milton
Ulysses (and Portrait and Dubliners) -- Joyce
The Stranger/The Fall -- Camus
Grendel -- Gardner

I think it's more the books that convinced me that I should pursue a Literature major...
And runners-up: Ender's Game, Catcher in the Rye, Farewell to Arms, Sun Also Rises, Beowulf, Faerie Queene

rdawson808 · Nov 23, 2009

In no particular order:

The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway
Economic Analysis of Property Rights by Barzel
Foucault's Pendulum by Eco
Whatever was the first of Christie's Hecule Poirot stories I read

that's all I can think of.

b

spudnik99 · Nov 23, 2009

The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations by Christotpher Lasch
The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy by Christotpher Lasch
Choices, Values, and Frames by Amos Tversky
A Collection of Essays by George Orwell
Neuromancer by Wm. Gibson
Microeconomic Theory: Basic Principles and Extensions by Walter Nicholson

Piobaire · Nov 23, 2009

^ Nice call on Neuromancer.

FLMountainMan · Nov 23, 2009

Originally Posted by Strombollii

This is a damn good question:
On the Road -- Kerouac
Paradise Lost -- Milton
Ulysses (and Portrait and Dubliners) -- Joyce
The Stranger/The Fall -- Camus
Grendel -- Gardner

I think it's more the books that convinced me that I should pursue a Literature major...
And runners-up: Ender's Game, Catcher in the Rye, Farewell to Arms, Sun Also Rises, Beowulf, Faerie Queene

C'mon, you really read Ulysses?

Mine:

Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Heart of Darkness
Great Gatsby
South by Shackleton
Through the Mickle Woods - some Russian guy.

Top six books for you

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